𝙃𝙚𝙧 𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙋𝙖𝙨𝙩 || Eren Jaeger

𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝓊𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒

9

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"Jo," I feel like I've called her name about a hundred times, following after her in this tense pursuit to find out what's got her so upset.

"Nothing." She says in contradiction to her bloodshot eyes. She marches up the stairs in a hurried escape, her back to me as I try to keep up with the stubborn Ackerman.

Funny... it seems like I've spent the majority of my life this way, unbeknownst to her. Watching from behind. Blessed to have the opportunity to follow her every move, but cursed with the fate of remaining two steps back. Not that I want to get in her way. Jo isn't a person that lets things obscure her path, or cloud her mindset even for a second. That is, until she met Eren.

I've never understood it. But it makes sense. There are some people that are destined to be great, to actually make an impact. And there are others destined to pretend.

To be honest I've felt like a pretender for most of my life. Always trying to mask my true self so I could seem like a destined-to-be-great to those around me. Only after I lost Marco did I feel a need to shed my arrogant front and be the real me, no matter how conflicted and lost that Jean often gets.

There was always an exception, however. Marco tolerated my pompous airs but Johanna never had to. Cause I never felt the need to pretend around her.

"If you would just talk to me," I implore.

Here's how it went down: I finished my lunch early so I could swing by the basement level and check on Jo and maybe even cover her shift for a while. I got there, encountered a visibly upset Jo fleeing the dungeons like there were hot coals on her heals, and since then I've been replacing each of my breaths with questions only for them to get deflected.

She stops at a door that leads to a study. Finally it becomes clear to me how incredibly tired she is, the kind that weighs down the spirit along with the body.

"I just want to sleep, Jean, no offense. Can I please be alone?" She says, resigned.

I understand. Understand perfectly. But I eye the door warily. "I wouldn't—"

She opens the door anyways. "I'm fine, I just want to be alo—"

Sitting inside are Armin, Mikasa, and Connie, all of which perk up at the sight of her. Johanna halts and groans softly.

She puts a hand up just as Mikasa opens her mouth. "Don't." Her tone is as polite as it is disheartening.

They refrain from asking about Eren, picking up her dejected energy as she moves to the settee and slumps back on it.

"Whats new?" she asks, obviously for the sake of filling the empty silence.

I frown, wishing she'd confide in me, but push my own troubled feelings aside. Closing the door with a soft click, I go towards the sink in the corner and wet a small towel so she can clean her stitches, which according to the nurse she's supposed to clean twice a day. I don't even have to ask. Knowing Jo, she probably hasn't.

"Commander Pixis arrested the volunteer soldiers." Mikasa informs.

"Pretty drastic, if you ask me." I comment with a sigh. I walk over to Jo and give her the damp towel, "Here."

She looks at me, surprised. "Oh. I forgot, thank you." She presses it against the right side of her face with a soft hiss. "So... was it an executive move? I didn't hear about it."

Armin leans forward in his seat, expression downcast. "Survey Corps officials planned with the Garrison and made the decision on their own. I guess they wanted to keep us out of the loop."